F 

BtSss 



In ittcmoviam. 



JILk 



Un ittemoiiant^ 



Mrs. Marmmne Fitch Stranahan. 



REV. SAMUEL T. SPEAR, D. D., 

PASTOR OF TUB SOLTII PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



NEW YOKK: 
PRINTED BY C. A. ALVURD, 

15 VANDEWATER STUEET. 
1867. 



^ 



•B'j/ 



CONTENTS 



T. 



PAOF. 
IXTHODUC'TIOX 7 



II. 

Funeral Skumox, uy Rev. .S.^mcel T. Spear, D. D 27 

III. 

ObITLARY Al'l'EARlXG IX T1IR^"'Ne\V YoRK EVAXGELIST.'' OCTO- 

BKu 11. is(.;(; r)9 

IV. 

Extract from the Report of the Sessiox of the South 

Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, (Jctober, 18G6.... G3 

, V. 

Action of the Board of Managers of the Graham Ixsti- 

tutiox 67 



VI CONTENTS. 



VI. 

Correspondence — p^^.p, 

1. Letter of tlie Rev. Henry W. Bellows. D. D 71 

2. Letter of the Rev. James Eells, D. D 75 

y>. Letter of the Rev. Mark Ilopkius. D. D.. LL. D., Presi- 
dent of Williams College 78 

4. Letter of Rev. Frederick A. Farley, D. D bO 

5. Letter of Rev. E. H. Canfield, D. D 86 

G. Letter of Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D 89 

7. Letter of Rev. R. S. Storrs, Jr., D. D 91 

8. Letter of Rev. J. Biiddiugton, J). 1> 98 

Extract from the Annual Report of Mrs. A. R. St. John, 
Corresponding Secretary of the Graham Institution, 

PRESENTED JANUARY lil. 18G7 105 

VIII. 

The Third and Final Report of the Woman's Relief Asso- 
ciation OF Brooklyn and Long Island 109 



I N T ]{ 1) r r T 1 N 



In submitting this Memorial- Volume of the 
hite Mrs. Mariamne Fitch Stranahan, to her 
relatives and other personal friends, the com- 
piler deems it proper to offer a few introdue- 
tory remarks. 

The contents of the Volume will speak 
for themselves, in reference alike to their 
nature, and the sources whence they came. 
They consist of the Funeral Sermon, preached 
by her Pastor on the occasion of Mrs. Stran- 
ahan's death ; an Obituary, appearing in the 
New York Evangelist ; Resolutions passed by 
the Managers of the Graham Institution, located 
in Brooklyn, of which Institution she had been 
the First Directress for eight years prior to 
her decease ; an P^xtract from the Annual 



8 JIKS. STKANAllATS'. 

Report of the Session of the South Presby- 
terian Church of Brooklyn, of which Church 
she was <a member ; an Extract from the Annual 
Report of Mrs. A. R. St. John, Corresponding 
Secretary of the Graham Institution, presented 
January 31. 1867; an Extract from the Third 
and Final Report of the Woman's Relief Asso- 
ciation of Brooklyn and Long Island; and several 
Letters written by distinguished Clergymen, the 
most of whom reside in Brooklyn, and some 
of whom, by personal acquaintance and official 
relations, had enjoyed very good opportuni- 
ties to know the life and character of the 
deceased. These Letters were addressed to 
the compiler in response to a note to these 
Clergymen, suggesting that he was engaged 
in gathering the materials of this Volume, 
and conveying the wish that they would 
aid him by the expression of their view\s. 
As to the character and position of the 
late Mrs. Stranahan, the estimate in which 
she was held, and the tender and affection- 
ate memories which still linger around her 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

useful life, these sources of information con- 
clusively prove that she was indeed a very 
remarkable woman, highly gifted, and using 
her gifts for the glory of God and the good 
of mankind. 

This Volume is the fruit of the sponta- 
neous and coincident suggestion of several 
minds. It seemed highly proper, as they 
thought, that some tribute in some perma- 
nent shape should be paid to the memory 
of one who had so richly deserved it. The 
compiler being her Pastor as w^ell as her per- 
sonal friend, the task of preparing the work 
naturally fell to him. He has felt honored 
in the privilege of performing such a duty. 

This Volume is not published with a view 
to sale at all. It is specially designed, as 
already intimated, for the relatives and other 
personal frifends of the deceased, Avho will 
receive it as a gratuity, and retain it in their 
possession as the memorial of a most excel- 
lent woman "one to the skies. Into what- 



10 MRS. STEANAHAIS^. 

ever hands it may fall, may the blessing of 
God go with it, and make it useful to the 
reader. 

To the class of persons who will be the 
readers and keepers of this Volume, a brief 
sketch of the deceased will doubtless be wel- 
come. Such a sketch is presented in the fol- 
lowing statements : — 

Mrs. Mariamne Fitch Stranahan was born 
March 7th, 1813, in the town of Westmore- 
land, Oneida County, New York. Her father's 
name was Ebenezer Eoot Fitch, who was 
born September 26th, 1772, in the town of 
Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, and 
who died Auoust 19th, 1820, being forty- 
eight years of age at the time of his death. 
Her mother's name was Sarah Dow Fitch, 
who was born in 1776, and who died March 
7th, 1842, being in her sixty-sixth year at 
the time of her decease. Both of her parents 
were members of the Christian Church, and 
died in the faith of the Gospel. The Fitch 



IlSrTRODUCTION. 1 1 

family in Connecticut held a good position in 
society, ,'in<l was indeed somewhat noted in 
the State, some of the members thereof hold- 
ing offices of public honor and trust. Mr. 
Ebenezer Root Fitch, the father of Mrs.' 
Stranahan, was a descendant, in the fourth 
generation, from the Rev. James Fitch, who 
was born in Rocking, England, 1622, who 
came to this country in 1638, and who was 
also the first Pastor of the Church of Say- 
brook, Connecticut. The second wife of Rev. 
James Fitch, and maternal ancestor of Ebe- 
nezer Root Fitch, was Priscilla Mason, the 
daughter of Major John Mason, deputy and 
acting Governor of the Colony of Connecti- 
cut for eight years, and the conqueror of the 
Pequot Indians. The mother of Ebenezer Root 
Fitch was the niece and ward of Chief-Justice 
Jesse Root, of Connecticut. 

In 1837, when she was twenty-four years of 
age, the deceased was married to Mr. James S. 
T. Stranahan, who at the time of the marriage 



12 MES. STEANAHAN. 

was a manufacturer and merchant in the town 
of Florence, Oneida County, New York, and 
who was born April 25th, 1808. Two chil- 
dren survive her, both of whom were born 
in the city of Newark, New Jersey. 

The educational opportunities of Mrs. 
Stranahan, in early life, were such as could 
be supplied by the Common School, and Acad- 
emies for Young Ladies as conducted at that 
time. She received what was, at that period, 
deemed a solid and thorough female educa- 
tion. It embraced a practical and useful dis- 
cipline, and made her an accurate English 
scholar. The correctness of her deportment 
in childhood, and the general style of her 
mind in youth, gave ample promise of the 
future woman. Her remarkably even temper, 
industrious and active habits, fondness for 
useful knowledge, and compactness of mind, 
suggested a future character of very much 
more than common power. What she said 
and did, or what she refrained from saying 



INTEODUCTIOlSr. 1 8 

or doing, was rarely lost upon the minds of 
her companions. The religious tendencies of 
her mind and heart date from her early 
youth. Though she did not connect herself 
with the Christian Church till a much later 
period, still she was conscientious in the dis- 
charge of religious duties, fond of reading 
the Bible and other religious books, a regu- 
lar attendant upon the public worship of God, 
and was indeed deemed a Christian by those 
who knew her best, long before she ventured 
to cherish the hope for herself. A profound 
sense of the sacredness of religion, combined 
with a tendency to a strong degree of self- 
questioning and self-suspicion, led her for 
many years to doubt whether she was in a 
proper state of nund to become a member of 
the visible Church ; and when, in later years, 
she finally concluded to take this step, it was 
not done without the most careful self-exam- 
ination. Her early thoughts on the subject 
of religion, like her more mature ones, were 



14 MRS. STRAISTAHAIS^. 

solid and practical. She was never a doubter, 
and never a caviler with the Word of God. 
Her difficulties Avere not with the truth as 
revealed in the Bible, but wholly with herself. 
Passing up into womanhood with these 
general features of mind and character, the 
deceased, after her marriage, resided three 
years in Florence, Oneida County, New York. 
In 1840 the family removed to the City of 
Newark, New Jersey, wdiere the two children 
surviving her, were born ; and in February, 
1845, she commenced her residence in the 
City of Brooklyn, where she continued to re- 
side until the time of her death, making a 
residence in this City of a little more than 
twenty-one years. Soon after coming to 
Brooklyn she became a member of the Con- 
gregation known as " The South Presbyterian 
Church of Brooklyn;" and in 1855 she con- 
nected herself with the Church by a public 
profession of her faith, '^her husband uniting 
with her at the same time. In 1851 she 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

made, with her husband, a visit to Europe, 
traveling through the principal countries of 
Europe. Her husband was elected by one of 
the Congressional Districts in Kings County 
as a Representative in the Thirty-fourth Con- 
gress ; and with him the deceased spent most 
of the time during the sessions of this Con- 
gress in the city of Washington. Here she 
was brouii:ht in contact with Washington so- 
ciety ; and here both her intelligence and 
excellent traits of personal character secured 
for her many lasting friends. 

The Letters contained in subsequent parts 
of this Volume, refer with special emphasis to 
Mrs. Stranahan's services, as the President of 
" The Woman's Relief Association of Brook- 
lyn and Long Island." This Association was 
organized November 23d, 1862, at which time 
Mrs. Stranahan was chosen as its President, 
Miss Waterbury as its Secretary, and twelve 
other ladies of high standing and patriotic im- 
pulses as an Executive Committee. There 



16 MES. STRANAHATSr. 

was a deeply felt want which this Association 
undertook to meet. The efforts previously 
made in behalf of the soldiers, in the City of 
Brooklyn, were scattered and inefficient, and 
did not at all express the patriotism or 
develop the strength of the people. Various 
organizations w^ere trying to do something for 
the soldier ; and though perfectly united in 
object, they were nevertheless acting without 
concentration, and without the certainties of a 
methodical and orderly plan of effort. It was 
especially true, that the strength of the Chris- 
tian Church was not adequately called into 
service. The feeling was good ; but the plan 
was wanting. This state of feeling, without 
any sufficient mode for its practical expres- 
sion, led to the formation of " The Woman's 
Pv^elief Association," as an auxihary to the Uni- 
ted States Sanitary Commission. The War 
Fund Committee, already established in the 
City of Brooklyn, called the Clergy of the City 
together for the consideration of the subject. 



INTRODUCTION. 1 7 

This meeting of Clergymen was largely attend- 
ed ; and after a thorough comparison of views, 
it was decided to hold a public meeting in 
the Academy of Music, and also to invite the 
Rev. Dr. Bellows, President of the United 
States Sanitary Commission, to be present, and 
give a detailed statement of his views in 
regard to the wants of the soldier, and the 
best method of co-operating with the Govern- 
ment in meeting them. The Academy of 
Music was crowded to its utmost capacity on 
the occasion referred to ; and after hearing 
fully from Dr. Bellows and other Clergymen 
present, the audience resolved to invite the 
ladies of Brooklyn to meet by delegates from 
the diiferent Churches in the Lecture Boom 
of the Church of the Pilgrims. Such a meet- 
ing was held at the time designated ; and 
here " The Woman's Relief Association'' was 
formally organized. Such, briefly, is the his- 
tory of its origin. 

The history of the work accomplished by 



18 MES. STRANAHAN. 

this Association, during the progress of the 
late civil war, is worthy of all praise. It 
places Brooklyn in the very first rank of 
patriotic Cities. It was largely, though not 
exclusively, a C7nirck-\\0Y\<, drawing its chief 
life and support from the Churches of Brooklyn 
and Long Island, and being most heartily sus- 
tained by the Clergy. Some eighty Churches 
of different denominations w'ere united in the 
effort; and these Churches were held together 
and co-operated in perfect harmony till the 
occasion ceased for their labors. Mrs. Strana- 
han, in her final report, says : " The aggre- 
oate of our eflbrts, includina- the results of 
our Great Fair, represents a money-value of 
not loss than half a million of dollars." Three 
hundred thousand dollars of this sum were 
paid into the treasury of the United States 
Sanitary Commission in cash ; and hospital 
supplies were furnished to the amount of 
over two hundred thousand dollars more, em- 
bracing tlie various things needed for the 



l.NTROJ)r( TI().\. 19 

comfort of the sick or wounded soldier. The 
Great Fair of Brooklyn had its origin in 
" The Woman's Rehef Association." At tirst 
it was proposed to nnite the efforts of Brook- 
lyn with the Metropolitan Fair to he held in 
New York ; hut on reflection it was thought 
that a much larger result wouhl he gained 
hy an independent effort on the i)art of 
Brooklyn and Long Island, and the result 
fully justified the opinion. " The Woman's 
Relief Association," from first to last, was a 
great and glori(ms success, not e([ualed by 
any otlier like association in the country. 

It is due to truth, and due to the mem- 
ory of the deceased, to say that this success 
depended very largely upon her wisdom and 
her efforts. She was the right woman in the 
right place. She gave her time to the work 
with a zeal and perseverance that never fid- 
tered, and with a hopefulness for her countiy 
that yiehled to no discouragement or despond- 
ency. As a presiding officer, she discharged 



20 MRS. STEANAIIAN. 

her duties with a self-possession, courtesy, 
skill, and method, that commanded universal 
admiration. She had a quick and judicious 
insight into the various ways and means by 
which the meetings of the Association would 
be rendered interesting and attractive. The 
business part of the work was constantly un- 
der her eye. No woman ever labored in a 
sphere more honorable ; and but few women 
could have filled her place. Her general tem- 
per of mind, her large and catholic views as 
a Christian, and then her excellent discretion, 
eminently fitted her to combine all the Churches 
in one harmonious and patriotic eflort. This 
was her constant study ; and well did she 
succeed. As an evidence of the sentiments 
with which she had inspired her associates, 
the following resolution offered at the last 
meeting of the Association, and unanimously 
adopted, will speak for itself: — 

Hesohed, That tlie tlianks of the Woinan''s Relief Association 
are pre-etninontly due to our President, Mrs. J. S. T. Strana- 



INTEODUCTION. 21 

iiAX, fur the siiig-ular ability, wisdom, and i)atieiicc witii wliicli 
slie lias discharged the duties of her office, at all times arduous, 
and not unfrequently requiring -sacrifices to whicli nothing short 
of the deepest love of country could have been equal. It is due 
to justice, and to the feelings of our hearts, to say that the use- 
fulness, tlie harmony, and the continued existence of the Woman's 
Relief Association, through the long and painful struggle, now 
happily endc<l, have been in a large measure owing to the com- 
bination of rare gifts, whicli have been so conspicuous to us all 
in the guidance of our public meetings, and which have marked 
not less the more unnoticed, but equally essential, superintend- 
ence of the work in private. 

The Letter of the Rev. Dr. Bellows, who 
was the President of the United Stutes' 
Sanitary Commission, and who as such Mas 
brought into official relations to Mrs. Strana- 
han, shows in what estimate he held her ser- 
vices, and what Avere the impressions made 
upon his mind as to her mental and moral 
character. This Letter contains a very truth- 
ful picture of the facts and the person. 

For eight successive years [trior to her 
death, Mrs. Stranahan had been the First 
Directress of the Graham Institute, a noble 
charity founded for the relief of " Respect- 



22 MES. STKANAHAN. 

able, Aged, and Indigent Females ;" and dur- 
ing the whole existence of this Institution, 
she was one of its important supporters. As 
a human being, and as a Christian woman, 
she tenderly sympathized with the poor and 
the needy, and was ever ready to extend to 
them the helping hand. She knew how to 
do it with a grace and ftimiliar simplicity, 
that always made charity from her hands 
doubly welcome. The resolutions passed by 
the Managers of this Institution upon the 
occasion of her death, and which may be- 
found in this Volume, as also the Letter of 
the Rev. Dr. Farley, fully show Avhat were 
her relations to this Institution. 

The compiler of this Volume was for twenty 
years her Pastor, and had the opportunity of 
forming a very reliable opinion of her as a 
woman, and also as to her religious charac- 
ter. This opinion he has expressed in the 
Sermon preached on the occasion of her 
death ; and to this expression, without here 



IISrTRODUCTION. 23 

repeating the same, the reader is respectfully 
referred. In addition to that statement, the 
compiler desires here to say, what could not 
so well be said on that occasion, that it was 
not uncommon for him to converse fully and 
frequently with her on subjects affecting the 
political and general interests of the country, 
especially during the late war, and afterward 
in relation to the proper settlement of the 
questions growing out of the war. On these 
subjects she was a woman of very clear and 
positive opinions, very much more intelligent 
and better informed than most of her sex. 
She was a true patriot; and during the w^ar 
she held fost to the doctrine, that the Gov- 
ernment must conquer the Rebellion at all 
hazards and all costs. She was the earnest 
admirer and devoted friend of the lamented 
Lincoln. After the close of the war and the 
death of Mr. Lincoln, she detected, at a very 
early period, the unhappy drifting of events 
as the fruit of what seemed to her a very 



24 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

serious mistake in the Executive policy of 
the Government. She knew the Southern 
people, having at different times mingled with 
them ; yet her views on political questions 
accorded Avell with her Northern birth and 
education. Without being fanatical in her 
impulses, she nevertheless hated slavery with 
an intense aversion. The entire sympathies 
of her moral nature were on the side of 
freedom. The earnest prayer of her heart, 
in respect to the issues of the Rebellion, was 
that treason might be stamped with its de- 
served odium, and that the rights of the 
Freedmen might be thoroughly protected. 

In concluding these introductory observa- 
tions, the compiler takes pleasure in expres- 
sing his thanks to those clerical gentlemen 
who have kindly furnished him the Letters, 
which appear under the head of Corresj)ond- 
ence. As he doubts not, they will be gladly 
accepted and read by the relatives and per- 
sonal friends of the deceased, as a just tribute 



INTKODUCTION. 25 

to her memory. To these relatives and per- 
sonal friends he offers this Volume as a 
Memorial- Volume — in so doing, acting as the 
selected representative of the lion. James 8. 
T. Stranahan, the husband upon whom the 
death of his wife fell as the severest afflic- 
tion of his life. 

Samuel T. Spear. 

4 



II. 
FUISrERAL SERMON, 

BY KEY. SAMUEF, T. SPEAR, D. D. 



" For we know, that if our earthly house of this taber- 
nacle WERE DISSOLVED, WE HAVE A BUILDING OF GOD, AN HOUSE 
NOT MADE WITH HANDS, ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS." — 2 Cor. V. 1. 

I HAVE selected this passage as being 
specially appropriate for the service, which 
has been announced for this hour. Some 
four weeks since, away from her home, and 
from the society of those with whom she had 
been accustomed to mingle, Mrs. Mariamne 
F. Stranahan, a much beloved member of this 
Church, was called to meet her God. Under 



28 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

the circumstances as then existing, it was not 
practicable, at that time, to hold a funeral 
service in this City ; and hence it was thought 
expedient to defer the service till the family 
could return, and thus give the community 
an opportunity to share with them in the 
mournful solemnity. That moment has now 
arrived; and I am before this audience 
with the text and the occasion for my 
theme. 

Calling your attention briefly to the words 
of the TEXT, I shall ask you to take note 
of three points. 

The first is the positiveness of the Apos- 
tle's ASSERTION. — Whatever the assertion means, 
of that he was positive. It was not a 
matter of probable conjecture mingled with 
doubt, but of strong and unhesitating assu- 
rance. " For we hiowr The ground of this 
knowledge, as we suppose, was not fixed 
in any superior natural endowments of the 
Apostle ; it did not rest upon any scientific 



FUNERAL SERMON, 29 

processes of thought ; but it did spring 
from the absolute truth of God as given 
to man by the inspiration of the Holy 
Ghost. This, we take it, was the secret 
and source of Paul's positive knowledge. 
lie had a complete faith in the Gospel of 
the Son of God, and in all the principles 
and truths revealed by that Gospel. What- 
ever it declared, that he accepted as true, 
upon the authority of God. He was him- 
self an inspired man, specially intrusted 
with this Gospel, and could hence speak 
and write with absolute positiveness of 
knowledge. 

This, let me assure you, is a much 
higher ground than that of unaided reason, 
especially in matters pertaining to the after- 
life. Of many earthly things Ave may be 
perfectly confident ; but when we come to 
things spiritual and immortal, future and 
invisible, in respect to which we have no 
experience, we want a revelation to guide 



30 MRS. STRAjSTAHAJ^. 

US, to give us the objects of faith, and 
support that faith by the unfailing testi- 
mony of God himself. The profound rea- 
soner feels this necessity very much more 
than the man of careless and superficial 
thought ; and hence having satisfied himself 
that the Bible is the Word of God, and 
that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Truth of 
God, he rests upon this Word and this Gos- 
pel with the simplicity, docility, and unwaver- 
ing confidence of a child, having in his own 
happy experience that faith which is the 
substance of things hoped for, and the 
evidence of things not seen. He walks by 
faith, and not by sight. 

The second point to which I ask your 

ATTENTION, IS THE SUPPOSITION WHICH THE ApOSTLE 

MAKES. — This is contained in the following 
Avords : " If our earthly house of this tab- 
ernacle were dissolved." By " our earthly 
house of this tabernacle " he evidently means 
the human body. It is our "house," 



FUNEEAL SERMOJS^. 81 

because it is our dwelling-place, for the 
present the instrument and the abode of 
spiritual life. It- is also "earthly," because 
reared upon the earth, being terrestrial alike 
in its locality and its structure. It is also a 
" tabernacle," since it is not the jjermanent 
dwelling-place of the essential man, but 
merely the convenience of the passing 
moment, like all other tabernacles suitable 
to a pilgrim and a traveler, yet not fitted 
to be his final home. Death is the event 
which involves the dissolution of this taber- 
nacle. The powers of animal life are then 
suspended ; the body becomes Avorthless, con- 
sidered as a spiritual residence ; we pay to 
it our tribute of affection and honor, and 
then lay it away to moulder in the grave. 
There it lies, just where we place it, 
unconscious of the darkness and solitude of 
its lonely home, unpained by its own decay. 
The laws of nature seize upon it; and soon 
it is a body no longer. We may visit the 



H2 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

spot where we laid it ; the costly marble 
may tell the passer-by, on whom, and when, 
and where the ftital blow descended ; yet 
these tributes of human feeling have no 
power to rescue us from that common fate 
which so surely awaits us all. " Dust thou 
art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 
Think we or think Ave not, the appointment 
is sure. Nothing can reverse it, and nothing 
delay the final hour. With every beating 
pulse it approaches ; and soon its prodigious 
experience must be ours. We may banish 
the subject from meditation ; but this does 
not alter the fact. In due season, the 
event referred to by the Apostle, will over- 
take us all. 

'• Like crowded tbre.st trees we stand, 
And some are marked to tall ; 
The axe will smite at God's command, 
And soon shall smite us all." 

It is, moreover, good for us to pause 
and meditate upon this fact. It is a seri- 



FUNEKAL SERMOiSr. 33 

ous error to think all men mortal but our- 
selves. Meditation, truthful and frequently 
repeated, will be conducive to our moral 
health. The questions which it raises, and 
for which it seeks a solution, form the great- 
est themes of thought. It conducts us to 
the silent, solemn shore of that vast ocean 
we must sail so soon, bidding us with earnest 
gaze to lift our contemplations to the amazing 
problems of the mighty future. That man 
surely has no discretion, who studiously 
ignores his own mortality. If of this he is 
afraid to think, then he is at once the great- 
est of cowards and the greatest of heroes — 
timid where he ought to have courage, and 
bold where he ought to be timid. lie will 
certainly live as the fool liveth, and then 
die as the fool dieth. The fatal hour, like 
a thief in the night, will come upon him, and 
find him quite unprepared to meet it. His 
dreams of pleasure will be exploded ; and 
naught be left but the pangs and curses of 



84 MRS. STEANAHAlSr. 

a wasted and mis-spent life. Let us all so 
meditate our end as seasonably to prepare 
for it. That life is long which answers life's 
great end. That life is wisest which one is 
equally fitted to resign or retain. 

The THIIID POINT IN THIS TEXT IS THE POS- 
ITIVE ASSERTION WHICH IT MAKES. *' If OUr 

earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
solved, we have a huilding of God^ an house 
not made nuth hands, eternal in the heavens.'' 
At a glance you see that the man himself, 
in the essential elements of his mental and 
moral humanity, is supposed to survive the 
dissolution of his mortal body. The body, 
the house, the tabern.-icle, falls; but the per- 
sonal man does not fall with it. Ilis 
spiritual nature is not dissolved. His rea- 
son, his conscience, his moral alfections, his 
character — these are not destroyed or even 
suspended by the event, which has proved 
so fatal to the l)ody. There is something 
in the man which the hand of death does 



rrNEKAL SERMON. 35 

not ronc'h ; .ami that soinetliiiig-, while now 
entirely distinct from the hody, yea, giving 
to this hody of flesh and ))h)od all its 
significance and vahie, outlives the decay 
and dissohition of our material irame. It 
does not die witli it, and does not moulder 
with it in the tomh. Blessed thought! 
Responsive to the universal instinct and liope 
of the race! 8ad, inimeasural»ly and incon- 
solably sad, would death be, were we denied 
the comforts and sweet inspirations of this 
thouglit. Were there a serious doul)t upon 
the question, tliat doubt would shade and 
distress us all the days of our pilgrimage. 
Yes, blessed thought! And blessed be the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who hath in the Gospel of his Son brought 
life and immortality to light. That which 
in some respects looks so much like destruc- 
tion, is but a process of life — a second birtli. 
by a stated order of (iod. carrying the soul 
into a new and more extended s[»liere and 



36 MRS. STEAJSTAHAN. 



career of being. They are not dead that 
die, but living. 



"Wliy then their loss deplore, that are not lost? 
Wliy wanders wretched Thonght their tomhs aronnd 
In infidel distress? Are angels there? 
Slumbers, raked up in dust, ethereal fire? 
They live ! They greatly live a life on earth 
Unkindled, unconceived, and from an eye 
Of tenderness let heavenly pity fall 
On me, more justly numbered with the dead." 

There is more than simple immortality 
in the words of the text. Grand as the 
thought may be, it is but the i^rologue of 
things grander than itself. "A building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eter- 
nal in the heavens" — this language, borrowed 
from earth, and addressed to the children of 
earth, is designed to assure the Christian 
that the circumstances of his after-life shall 
contain the most perfect provision for his 
future and eternal good. True, he leaves 
earth behind him, and true also that he 
leaves the body of earth behind him ; yet 



FUNERAL SERMOIS'. 37 

he shall have a home, a structure or dwelling- 
place, reared by God himself, and hence an 
house not made with hands ; and this home 
shall be eternal in the heavens. He will 
not be a denizen of the spirit-world without 
a country that he may call his own, or 
circumstances personal to himself and suited 
to his everlasting happiness. He will not 
be a spirit unclothed, or without its robe 
of light. God will make the amplest pro- 
vision for him, giving him a place in which 
to dwell, songs to sing, pleasures to enjoy, 
and duties to perform. He wdll be more at 
home in heaven than he ever was on earth. 
Here he was a pilgrim and a stranger, 
dwelling in a tabernacle ; but there he shall 
reside in the palace of his God, in an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens. Reaching that royal abode, he will 
sing with triumph, " Home at last !" 

I do not know that I feel any special 
desire to press these words for a more 



.S8 MRS. STRAISTAHAN. 

accurate, what some would call a moi'e 
analytic and philosophical, meaning, than the 
one which lies upon their surfoce. I think 
we sometimes err in an effort to be wise 
above our measure. The Scriptures are 
written in plain language : they do not 
attem})t to gratify our speculative curiosity ; 
and the better way for us is to take the 
general impression which they seek to make, 
and be content with it. I am very far 
from knowing what are the processes, the 
modes and circumstances of the future life : 
I am not as familiar with that life as I 
am with the scenes of earth : I do not 
know that I can tell all that is meant by 
the words of the text ; perhaps my conjec- 
tures were I to indulge in them, would be 
very far from the truth : yet this I know, 
that such language, such a description of 
the life to come, like hundreds of other 
descriptions found in the Bible, conveys to 
earth the intelligence of a good and happy 



FUNERAL ser:\iox. 39 

state after death ; and this is just what we 
w^aiit to know. This is just what the IJible, 
sometimes by bold and irr;ii)hic figure, and 
sometimes in more literal terms, is eonstantly 
rehearsing in our ears, using the utmost pow- 
er of language to make eternity attractive 
and weleome to the }>ious sons of earth. In 
our Father's house there are many mansions : 
and thither Jesus has gone to prepare a 
place for us. The righteous sliall shine forlli 
as the sun in tlie kingdom of their Father. 
They shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament, and as the stars, for ever and 
ever. Blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord, since they rest from tbeir lal)ors, and 
their works do follow them. An iniieritance 
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away, is reserved in heaven for them, A 
far nu)re exceeding and eternal weiglit of 
glory is to be the rich l)equest of God in 
their behalf. Songs of praises shall be on 
their tongues, and palms of victory in their 



40 MRS. STRAlSTAHAlSr. 

hands. Their treasure is laid up where 
moth and rust do not corrupt, and where 
thieves do not break through or steal. 

These and such forms of statement, so 
familiar to the reader of the Bible, like 
that of the text, are not designed to ante- 
date that knowledge of observation and expe- 
rience which we must die to gain ; but they 
are designed to impress every man with that 
great and good reward which God has prom- 
ised to the children of his grace. Happy 
will it be for us if we take the broad 
impression. It is quite enough for our 
present circumstances. It is indeed all that 
we are now competent to take. Remember 
that eye hath not seen, and ear hath not 
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart 
of man fully to conceive, the things which 
God hath prepared for them that love him. 
It doth not yet appear what they shall be. 
Content yourselves then with the direct and 
ol)vious idea of the Scriptures, and learn to 



FUNERAL SEKMOX. 41 

say with the Apostle, " For we know, that 
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of God, an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." When standing on the other side, 
you will know what this means, as you 
cannot while standing here. Be sure so to 
live that you can without presumption appro- 
priate the language. Obey God ; receive his 
Gospel ; and then proceed to the grave with 
the fullest hope of a blessed and happy 
immortality. 

Having thus developed the thoughts of 
the text, I now turn in a few closing 
remarks to the occasion, which is providen- 
tially a part of my theme this morning. In 
these remarks I shall not say a word which 
I do not believe to be true. 

The deceased, Mrs. Mariamne Fitch Stran- 
ahan, dying at the age of fifty-three years, 
was born of pious parents iu tlic town of 
Westmoreland, Oneida County, State of New 



42 MES. STFtANAUAlV. 

York. In early life she was well educated 
in the common Enghsh hranches, excellino; 
in English Grammar and Rhetoric. Previously 
to her death, she had been a resident of this 
city for nearly a quarter of a century. 
During nearly the whole of this period, I 
hiive sustained towards her the relation of a 
Christian Pastor. In the year 1855 she 
became a member of this Church, joining it 
in connection with her husband upon a pub- 
lic profession of her faith. 

My first acquaintance with the deceased 
was made in the sick-room. I then met 
her as an invalid and a stranger. This inter- 
view was mainly devoted to the subject of 
religion — a theme which I found entirely 
welcome to her feelings, and upon which 
she had evidently meditated for years. I 
saw at once her profound respect for the 
theme, her knowledge of the Bible, and her 
entire faitlr in the book as of divine author- 
ity. She then expressed to me all the con- 



FUNERAL SERMON. 43 

victions and all the essential affections and 
mental habits of the Christian character, and 
simply foiled, so far as I conld judge by her 
words, in realizing to herself her own posi- 
tion, with its privileges as guaranteed to her 
by the truth of God. She was timid, self- 
suspicious, and doubtful on the question of 
her right to the Christian hope. I retain 
to this day the impression then made ui)()n 
my mind, and which, in conversation witli an 
intimate friend, I thus expressed : '* Either 
Mrs. Stranahan is a Cliristian, or she soon 
will be. I think she is a Christian without 
knowing it." This mood of mind delayed 
her profession of religion for some ten years ; 
she was waiting for more satisfactory evidence 
of the work of grace in her heart; and at 
length, after repeated conversations on the 
point, after much hesitation and earnest self- 
examination, and with no little trembling of 
soul, she finally decided to connect herself 
with the visible Church. My judgment is 



4:4 MRS. STRANAHAN^. 

that she was sph'itually prepared for this act 
long before she performed it; yet the pro- 
priety of the step was not so evident to 
herself, and hence her delay. 

As to the character of the deceased con- 
sidered in the strictly Clirhtian aspect, it is 
perhaps enough to say that it was thoroughly 
Christian. She certainly was an intellk/ent 
Christian, well instructed and well read in 
the doctrines of the Gospel. She was a 7'eU- 
ahk Christian, firm, equable, uniform, and 
fixed in her principles, conscientious in the 
performance of that which she deemed to be 
right, and equally in the resistance of that 
which she viewed as wrong, without those 
moods and eccentricities of character which 
sometimes mar the beauty of grace. She 
was a in-adical Christian, embodying the moral 
sentiments of her inner life in the concrete 
forms of living action. She was large-hearted 
and comprehensive in the scope of her piety, 
being eminently free from the bigotry and 



FUNERAL SERMON, 45 

sectarian prejudices; which too often dishonor 
the Christian name. She had great confidence 
in the truth of God, and thoroughly believed 
in the visible Church as the divinely appoint- 
ed agent of spiritual doctrine and practical 
philanthropy in this fallen world. She w\as 
not given to idle speculation or useless sen- 
timentality. Religion with her was a liie to 
be lived, and a truth to bo illustrated. Of 
her merely emotional experiences she seldom 
spake ; and yet she w^as always frank, free, 
and facile in religious conversation, showing 
her relish for the theme. Though holding 
the faith of the Cliurch to which she be- 
longed, and attached to its forms of worship, 
she was, nevertheless, by nature as well as 
by grace, exceedingly liberal in both feeling 
and practice toward all the other branches 
of the Christian family ; and this quality of 
character eminently fitted her to act well her 
part in some of the positions to which she 
was providentially called. 



46 MES. STRANAHAI^. 

The elements of natural and acquired char- 
acter possessed by the deceased, were adapted 
to make her a woman of more than ordinary 
importance and power in any and every circle 
of life. A large endowment of excellent sense 
prepared her to be a truly wise woman. 
Hers was a sense that served her on all 
occasions, and under all circumstances, and 
made her quite equal to every thing which 
she undertook. Hasty and inconsiderate words 
seldom fell from her lips. She was a good 
judge of things, knowing what to do and how 
to do it. Always genial and sometimes play- 
ful in her feelings, simj)le and unpretending 
in her manners, perfectly sincere and genuine 
in her friendships, she was fitted to enjoy life 
and minister enjoyment to others. The lowly 
and humble found her a lady in the truest 
sense, and the most exalted were impressed 
by her presence and conversation. Her cul- 
ture derived from reading, travel, observation, 
and a large acquaintance with others, rather 



FUNERAL SERMON. 47 

than from the mere forms and routine of 
school-discipline, secured to her a self-reliance, 
a self-possession, and practical wisdom equal 
to all the emergencies and occasions of life. 
Though not pretentious, and far from seeking 
to ape the brilliant woman, she nevertheless 
had such a combination of mental and moral 
qualities, that she was eminently a talented 
woman, fully competent to s})eak, write, or act 
so as strongly to im})ress others. Life she 
regarded as a moral gift, to be used for the 
glory of God and the good of mankind, rather 
than as a day to be whiled away in fashion- 
able parade, or devoted to personal enjo}^- 
ment. She w^as hence laborious, willing to 
work both mind and body for the attainment 
of ends which she deemed desirable. Toward 
the poor and needy she was kind and chari- 
table ; and b}' all the tendencies of her nature 
as well as the principles of her Christian 
character, she was the friend of the outraged 
and oppressed. Never gifted with great power 



48 MRS. STRA]SrAHA:^. 

of physical endurance, and often for long 
periods the subject of painful illness, she had 
been disciplined to patience, resignation, and 
submission in the school of much suffering. 

The official positions appropriate to her sex, 
which sought the services of the deceased, 
furnished an opportunity to bring into efiective 
action many of the qualities of mind and 
heart to which I have referred. For several 
years prior to her decease she had been the 
First Directress of an Institution established 
in this City to provide for the comfort of 
aged and indigent females ; and to the inter- 
ests of that noble charity she devoted her 
time and effort, with ' the zeal of a true 
philanthropist. Iler official associates, as I 
doubt not, feel that by her death they have 
lost a wise counselor and a most valuable 
co-operator. 

The Woman's Relief Association, organized 
in this City during the progress of the late 
war to co-operate with the United States 



FUNERAL SERMOlSr. 49 

Sanitary Commission, selected the deceased as 
its presiding officer; and here it was, espe- 
cially, that the public had an am[»le op[i(>r- 
tunity to observe her character. Here were 
the severest and most imjiortant pnl)li(' lal)ors 
of her life. This Association undertook to cen- 
tralize and com])ine all the agencies of Brook- 
lyn and Long Island in one general and 
methodical system of action for the sanitary 
comfort of those noble men, who had gone 
forth to figlit tlie battles of their country. 
The eminent success of this Association, its 
large contributions to the Army and the Navy, 
the Great Fair which it inaugurated, the 
patriotic spirit by which it was marked, its 
harmony of counsel, and untiring steadiness 
of puri)osc, while reflecting the highest credit 
upon the women of Brookh'n and Long- 
Island, show" most conclusively that its Presi- 
dency and general management had fillcn 
into wise and efficient hands. Those who 
were present at its various meetings, some of 



50 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

which were very hirge, will recall the grace, 
the ease, the self-possession, the propriety, 
the correctness, and order, with which the 
deceased always presided, in this respect 
evincing an ahility and skill not always 
equalled by the other sex. Those more famil- 
iar with the details of the effort, will remem- 
ber how steadily and earnestly, and with 
what sacrifice of time and strength, she 
devoted her whole heart to the service. She 
was so situated that she could spare the 
time; and she had the heart to do it. Per- 
haps she overtaxed her physical powers. If 
so, it was a willing offering to her country. 
The Woman's Relief Association will live on 
the page of history, as a noble tribute to the 
patriotism, the energy, and executive skill of 
a true woman. At her invitation, I had the 
honor to address the Association on several 
public occasions ; and I alwajs felt that, 
whatever might be true of the men, however 
much they might be divided about questions 



FUlSrERAL SERMON. 51 

incident to the war, I wus speaking to an 
a.ssembly of genuine patriots, who expected 
to win in the pending struggle, and Avlio 
meant never to pause in the effort till the 
flag of the nation floated in absolute triuni})li. 
A more 103'al set of beings never trod the 
earth. The country owes much to her 
women; and nobler patriots than those en- 
gaged in the Woman's Relief Association, no 
country ever had. I am a personal witness 
to the fact, as are many who hear me, that 
the deceased gave to her country's cause 
the very best offerings in her power. She 
saw the greatness of the crisis, and labored 
accordingly. In the last interview I ever had 
with her — little did I then suppose it to be 
the last — she spoke some earnest and honest 
words in respect to the aftairs of the coun- 
try, expressing thoughts which subsequent 
developments prove to have been true. 

The domestic relations and cliaracter of 
the deceased belong specially to that circle of 



52 MRS. STRAlSrAIIAN. 

weepers and friends, who knew her best, and 
to Avhose hearts her death has brought the 
desolate feelings of real sorrow. My words 
of comfort and consolation are but poor sub- 
stitutes for her presence. The kindest feel- 
ings which humanity can lay upon the altar 
of another's sorrow, utterly f?xil to meet the 
wants of an afflicted heart in such a terrible 
crisis of experience. God himself only is ade- 
quate to the occasion. Yet let those friends 
know that many deeply sympathize with them 
in this heavy trial. No woman could have 
died in this City, whose death would have 
awakened more universal regret. While the 
husband, the son, the daughter, the sister, 
and other near and dear relatives, feel that 
they have lost a most cherished object, the 
people of Brooklyn also feel that a woman of 
i>reat merit and eminent usefulness has been 

a 

called to her final account. Her name will 
not be speedily forgotten. 

I was not present at the death-scene. An 



rUNErtAL SERMOK 53 

excellent woiiinn of this City, and an intimate 
friend, who was present, in a note to me, has 
characterized that scene, in these words: — 
'' She gave np her spirit with no selfish 
regret, but calmly, peacefully, even smilingly, 
as she walked through tlie dark valley of the 
shadow^ of death." Her life had jn-epared her 
for such a death, come when, or where, or in 
what form it might. She accepted tlie ap- 
pointment as of God, and committed her soul 
to the covenants of His unfailing Word. Could 
she have chosen the place, she would doubt- 
less have selected her own honored and hapity 
home as the spot for her final exit. She left 
it, an invalid, in rpiest of health; and though 
she failed to find the thing she sought, and 
though God's puri»ose permitted no return, 
still she did not, as we trust, fail to find 
that building of God, that house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens; yea, that 
far more exceeding and eternal weiglit of" 
glory, wdiich Paul saw in the opening future. 



54 MRS. STRANAHAlSr. 

and which the unchanging Word of God pledges 
to all the good of earth. Her death, though 
it makes a vacancy here, has but gathered 
another soul to its eternal home. 

In brino'insx these observations to a close, 
let me say that my words, so far as I know, 
have been true words. I have endeavored to 
speak the simple truth, just as it lies before 
my mind. And if I have drawn the sketch 
of a character of very much more than com- 
mon power and worth, the reason must be 
souo-ht in the facts of the original. Mine is 
but an imperfect copy, borrowed from the 
materials of real life. It is something, yea, 
it is much, so to live in this world of tempta- 
tion and danger, sin and error, that when one 
de])arts, such a record will be left behind 
him. 

Let me specially suggest to those of my 
auditors who belong to the female sex, that 
the history now given of the deceased, is 
eminently worthy of their consideration. 



FUNERAL SERMON. 00 

Woman, I uiii q^iute aware, has her sphere 
in life, from which she cannot depart without 
damage to herself and detriment to society : 
in some respects, that spliere is different from, 
as well as suhordinate to, that of man ; yet 
to ])e a (/ood woman, a thoroughly sensible 
woman, exerting in this world to a high de- 
gree the womanly })ower, is a task whicli, if 
well performed, will cover life w^th many 
jew^els. Woman need not, in this Christian 
country, aftlict herself with her social limita- 
tions. Let her do well and truly that wliich 
belongs to her : and she will find the amplest 
room for the best use of all her powers. So- 
ciety will lionor her; and God will honor lier. 
Earth has a place for such women ; and the 
service which they render to mankind, differs 
from that of those light, trifling, senseless, 
silly, and useless wu:>men, who think of nothing 
but display, who are mere passive appendages 
to the other sex, who treat themselves simply 
as parlor ornaments, who contribute nothing 



56 MRS. STRANAHAX. 

to the material, the intellectual, or moral 
good of the world, and who, when they die, 
leave nothing behind them fit to grace and 
honor the memory of a woman sleeping in 
her grave. The character of the deceased fur- 
nishes a good lesson upon this subject. Her 
life shows what a woman may be, and what 
she may do, and that, too, without any viola- 
tion of those delicate proprieties, which, while 
they guard her sex, are equally a large part 
of her social charm. I invite you, my female 
auditors, to study this subject. Life for you 
is a day of action, and of improvement and 
usefulness by action. You were not made 
simply to ornament society. You were not 
made to live an aimless life. God had higher 
purposes in your creation ; and these you 
should seek to learn and fulfdl. History 
records the actions of many noble women ; 
and among this list every woman should seek 
to place her name. All the great moral mo- 
tives which incite the other sex to efibrt and 



FUNERAL SERMON. 57 

to action, are as pertinent and powerfnl wlieu 
addressed to woman. They call her as well 
as man. It will be her dignity and her glory 
to respond to them. One of the characteris- 
tics of a progressive Christian civilization, is 
always found in the increasing practical impor- 
tance of woman. She rises with society as it 
advances, and becomes a ministering angel of 
good things on earth. 

The general lesson of mortality taught by 
this providence, I trust we shall all i)ause to 
ponder and improve. From the circle of the 
living, from the warm attachments of earth, 
from circumstances of worldly competency and 
comfort, and by an ai)pointment which baffled 
all human skill, the deceased was called from 
the scenes of time to those of eternit}^ In 
the programme of Providence her hour canu', 
and her spirit fled. And thus it will be with 
us all. Our days are so numbered that we 
cannot pass the limit set in heaven. We see 
it not ; no visible flaming sword of fate over- 



58 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

hangs the final moment ; no hving messenger 
stands there with his monitory voice ; and yet 
God's decree, unknown and unfelt till it as- 
sumes the form of fact, has fixed the moment 
when each one of my hearers will die. From 
this assembly there will be a next one, and 
after that a next one, and after this a third 
one, and so on, in a continuous series, till we 
shall all have passed into the silent realms of 
death. We surely cannot afford on trifling 
cares to waste that life which God's compas- 
sion spares. We shall soon have no life to 
waste. Loudly does this providence call upon 
us to do with our might whatsoever our hand 
findeth to do. I counsel you to hear the 
warning voice. Wait not till your last mo- 
ments for your best impressions. Wait not 
till your last moments before you seek to 
make your peace with God. Far better will 
it be to discharge present duty, and by the 
merits of Christ gain that which death will 
refine, and eternal ages unfold. 



III. 
OBITUARY 

APPEARING IN THE NEW YORK EVANGELIST, 
OCTOBER 11, 18G6. 



DIED. 

Stranahan. — On August oOth, in the vil- 
lage of Manchester, Vermont, Mrs. Makiamne 
F. Stranahan, wife of lion. J. S. T. Stranahan, 
of Brooklyn, New York. For several months 
prior to her decease, Mrs. Stranahan had been 
an invalid ; and early in the summer she left 
the City and went into the country, hojiing 
thereby to recover her health. Though not 
reaping all the benefits from country air for 
which she had looked, still it was not until 



00 MRS. STRANAIIAN. 

the last week of her Kfe, that either she or 
her friends had occasion to anticipate a fatal 
issue. Then her disease suddenly developed 
itself in a form of great violence ; and after 
a few days of intense physical anguish, the 
struggle was ended, and her spirit fled to 
the God who gave it. 

In the death of Mrs. Stranahan the City 
of Brooklyn has lost one of its most gifted, 
])rominent, and influential women. She had 
been a resident of that City for some twenty- 
three years, and died in the fifty-fourth year 
of her age. She was a member of the South 
Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, under the 
pastoral care of Rev. Dr. S[)ear, having joined 
the Church upon in'ofession of her faith in 
the year 185-3. Early trained by a pious 
parentage, and easily yielding her mind to 
the influences of religion, she had given clear 
indications of the Christian character long 
before she connected herself with the visible 
Church. Tier piety was marked )jy a good 



OBITUARY. Gl 

understanding of IJihlo doctrine, a firm faitli 
in the teachings of God's Holy Word, a trust- 
ful hope in Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, 
and a very high degree of those practical 
virtues and philanthroi)ies which Christianity 
both demands and inspires. She has left 
behind her very pleasing evidence that for 
her to die was gain. 

Grace being added to the natural ((ualities 
ol" the deceased, she became one of the most 
efficient and useful of women in the lal)ors 
of Christian love. For many years she had 
been the First Directress of the Graham In- 
stitute, an Institution founded to provide for 
the wants of respecta])le, aged, and indigent 
females. During the war she held a like posi- 
tion in the Woman's Relief Association of 
Brooklyn aud Long Island, organized to co- 
operate with the United States Sanitary Com- 
mission in i)roviding for the wants of the 
Army and Xavy. Here her rare abilities made 
themselves obvious to all observers. Her du- 



G2 MRS. STEANAHAN. 

ties were arduous, sometimes very difficult ; 
yet she was always equal to every occasion. 
No woman could have died in Brooklyn, whose 
death would be more universally and sincerely 
regretted. She died leaving behind her an 
exceedingly perfect record. Being so situated 
in life that she could devote much of her time 
to the service of others, she had the heart to 
do it. Her fine natural qualities were calcu- 
lated to win for her many friends. Her 
strength of character, clearness of judgment, 
and 2:reat executive talent, made her the lion- 
ored and trusted woman in many departments 
of social usefulness. Such a life, closing at 
last in a peaceful death, is fragrant with pre- 
cious memories to comfort and instruct the 
living. Blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord, for they rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them May God make this 
sore affliction a blessing to the family on which 
it falls with heaviest power. 



IV. 

EXTRACT 

FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE 
SOUTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BROOK- 
LYN, OCTOBER, isr.fi. 



While God, in his kind providence, has 
saved the people from the pestilence that 
wasteth at noon-day, and graciously preserved 
the health and lives of the congregation dnring 
the past year, He has nevertheless called away 
one of the members of this Church, to whom 
the Session feel constrained to make a brief 
reference. 

Mrs. Mariamne F. Stranahan, for eleven 
years a member of this Church, and for more 



64 MRS. STRANAHAN, 

than twenty years a member of the congrega- 
tion, (lied on the 30th of last August, in the 
village of Manchester, Vermont. In her death 
the Session feel that the Church and the city 
of Brooklyn have lost a woman of rare capa- 
city and eminent usefulness. Having joined 
this Church in 1855, upon a profession of her 
faith, she has left behind her, in her Christian 
w^alk and conversation, pleasing evidence that 
for her to live was Christ, and to die was 
gain. At the time of her death, she was the 
First Directress of the Graham Institution, 
founded in this city to extend relief to re- 
spectable, aged, and indigent females. 

The Woman's Relief Association of Brook- 
lyn and Long Island, organized during the 
late w\ar, selected Mrs. Stranahan for its pre- 
siding officer and executive head. In this 
sphere of philanthroi)ic and patriotic labor, to 
which she devoted the best energies of her 
mind and body, she was found fully equal to 
all the duties and difficulties of her important 



SESSIONAL EEPOET. C)'y 

position. Seldom is woman called to bear so 
much public responsibility; most women would 
be inclined to shrink from the arduous task; 
yet our deceased sister, hearing the call of 
her countr}^ and anxious to do for its defense 
all that woman could do, gave her powers to 
the service, Avith great honor to herself, and 
eminent satisfaction to the people. Generous 
and noble in her Christian feelings, kind and 
conciliating in her manners, practical and com- 
prehensive in her judgment, energetic and per- 
severing in action, she was peculiarly qualified 
to discharge the duties of the position to 
which she had been called. The whole com- 
munity both marked and admired her as a 
Avoman of uncommon ability. 

The Session feel that a life so useful, so 
practically Christian in its features, deserves 
a passing tribute at its close. They record 
their heart-felt sympathy with the afflicted fam- 
ily in this hour of their bereavement and sor- 
row, commending them to that comfort where- 



66 MES. STEAlSrAHAlSr. 

with God comforteth His own people. The 
loss to the Church and to the community, is 
indeed great. May God make the affliction a 
blessing to the living, and lead us all so to 
live tliat for us to die will be gain. 



V. 

ACTION 

OF THE 

HOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE GRAHAM LXSTFrUTION. 



Mr. J. S. T. Stranahax : — 
Dear Sir : — 
At the regular meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the Graham Institution, October 
4th, 18GG, the loUowing paper was read and 
ado}»ted : — 

Ladies : — 

Having parted but a few months ago for a 
brief season of rest and refreshment, we meet 



68 MKS. STRANAHAN. 

again under peculiar circumstances, fraught 
with deep interest and unfeigned sorrow. 

The death of our First Directress, Mrs. 
J. S. T. Stranahan, has caused a void in our 
Board that cannot be easily filled, casting a 
shadow of the deepest regret over all our 
transactions, filling our hearts with tenderest 
sympathies, and our thoughts also, with her 
many noble and attractive qualities. 

Let us, whilst not questioning the Divine 
Will in this dispensation, reverently bow to 
its decree, acknowledging the great blessing it 
has vouchsafed this Institution in permitting 
it the benefits of many years of Mrs. Strana- 
han's life, consecrated to its cause with a 
dignified whole-souled devotion, rare as it was 
great. 

The following Resolutions are offered for 
your acceptance : — 

Hesolved^ In consicleration of the incstiiimble worth of the 
late Mrs. Straiiahau, and of her untiring devotion to the 
interests and advancement of this Institution, from its earliest 



THE GKAHAJI INSTITUTION. 09 

conception to its present ])rosperity ; that we owe to la-r 
memory the hiirliest honor and respect ; and to her kind 
courtesy and earnest sympathy with those associated witli 
her in its manajjenient, we give our heartfelt testimony, as 
also to the faithfulness of her ollicial ministration, her wise 
counsel, and unshrinking judgment. 

Resolved., That we otter our united sympathy to the family 
and friends of tlie deceased, in this season of their great afflic- 
tion and bereavement ; and may the only and great Comforter 
be their support and guide to that home to which she has 
gone, with all tiie promises of a glorious rest from her labors 
of love on earth. 

Iiesolved, That this acknowledgment of the high estimation 
in which the eminent Christian virtues of the deceased Avere 
held by this Board of Managers, be placed upon the records of 
this Institution, and a copy of the same be sent to her surviving 
husband and family. 

By Older of the Board. 

A. R. St. John, 

Corrc'spouding Secretary. 



VI. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 



(1) 

Letter of Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D. 

Xew York, Ocfober 22, 1866. 

Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

I learii with great satisfaction that you 
are preparing a Memoir of the Lite ^frs. 
Stranahan. Her death, during my summer 
vacation, brought me a sad surprise, with a 
painlul regret that I couhl not join the many 
friends who deeply felt her loss, and must 
have gathered at her funeral. 



72 MRS. STRANAHAlSr. 

Knowing Mrs. Stranahan only in her official 
character, as head of the noble band of women 
who throngh the war, by their admirable or- 
ganization and efficient, patient working, made 
Brooklyn a shining example for all other 
Cities — I wonder that she shonld have left so 
deep a personal impression npon my heart ; and 
that from a dozen interviews confined wholly to 
one subject, I should have conceived a friend- 
ship for her which it commonly takes a life 
of various intercourse and intimate or familiar 
relations to establish. And this is the more 
remarkable, because her directness, clearness 
of intention, and precision of purpose always 
kept her confined, in the conversations I held 
with her, to the special subject on which we 
met to take counsel. 8he had so admirably 
ordered an understanding, was so business-like 
and clear in her habits of mind, that not a 
minute was lost with her in beating the bush. 
With mild determination, and in a gentle dis- 
tinctness of tone, she laid her views or wishes 



CORRESPONDENCE. 73 

belbru me, in ;i \v;iy tliat never needed ;iuy 
other explanation or enforcement than her 
simple statement carried with it. In few, 
precise, and transparent words, she made 
known her i)usiness, or gavo her o[»inion, and 
wasted not a precious minute in generalities, 
or on matters aside iVom our common object. 
This rendered my olHeial intercourse with her 
peculiarly satisfactory. She always knew just 
Avhat slie wanted to say, and left no uncer- 
tainty as to what she had said ; and what she 
said, had always been so carefully considered, 
that her wishes were full of reason, and her 
advice full of persuasion. She seemed to me 
to unite the greatest discretion with the finest 
enthusiasm. As earnest, large, and noble in 
her views of wliat was due to the National 
cause, as the most zealous could be, she was 
yet so practical, judicious, and sober in her 
judgment, that what she planned, I learned to 
regard as certain of success. No one could 
see her presiding with mingled modesty and 

10 



74 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

dignity over one of the meetings of the Woman's 
Relief Association, without admiration for her 
self-possession, propriety of utterance, and skill 
in furthering the objects in view. I have 
always supposed that her wisdom, resolution, 
and perseverance, had a controlling influence 
in the glorious success of the Brooklyn Re- 
lief Association — the most marked and memo- 
rable fellowship of women, united from all 
sects and orders of Christians, in one prac- 
tical enterprise, that the world ever saw. 

I rejoice to lay this brief but sincere 
tribute of my respect upon the grave of this 
excellent and patriotic woman. I felt hon- 
ored by her confidence and manifest friend- 
ship, and prized deeply the inestimable value 
of her services to a cause, which was for four 
years nearest of all to my heart. I shall 
look with eagerness for the Memoir of her 
life — expecting to find in it evidences of the 
depth and purity of the springs from which 
her beneficent course flowed. Meanwhile, per- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 7o 

mit me to record my sympathy with tlie 
houschohl, the church, and the community, 
that have lost her visible presence. 
Respectfully yours, 

IIenmy W. Bellows. 
Rev. S. T. Si'EAK. D. D. 



(>0 
Letter of Rev. James Eells, D. D. 

67 PiERREPOXT Street, Brooklyn. ) 
Odobtr n, ISdG. ' >' ■ 

Rev. S. T. Spear, D. I). :— 
My Dear Sir :— 
It gives me pleasure to know tliat you 
are about to prepare a Memorial of respect 
for the character and life of the late Mrs. 
Stranahan. Both because of what she was, 
and what she did, she was eminently worthy 
of such a tribute, and none were more fully 



76 MRS. STEANAHAN. 

aware of this than yourself, who was for so 
Ions: a time her friend and Pastor. 

As she was a native of the same town 
with myself, I might speak of her ^father's 
household, and her early life, and find much 
to commend in both, and not a little that 
w^as prophetic of her after history. 

But a Memorial will have its chief interest 
from its reference to her later years, when 
lier character had attained those very attrac- 
tive features we so well remember, and her 
position and energy gave her, by common 
consent, the prominence which makes her loss 
a public, as well as social ailliction. 

Though she had been accepted as a leader 
among the ladies of Brooklyn for years be- 
fore, it was not until the demands of the war 
were upon us, that she exhibited all her fit- 
ness to lead. But as we now recall the 
Great Fair in aid of the soldiers through the 
" Sanitary Commission," and the really won- 
derful work of the "Woman's Relief Associa- 



CORKESPONDENCE. 77 

tion," for years, wo find the ever dignified, 
and devoted, and tireless Mrs. Stranahan, as 
the presidinp: si)irit of that noble company of 
women, to be ])roiiiineiit in that review, of 
which Brooklyn will ever be proud. Prompt 
and wise in devising, efficient and resolute in 
executing, infusing her own spirit wherever 
there was any lack of enthusiasm or any wea- 
riness because of contiiuu'd demands, she was 
no doubt the means of doing much to sup- 
port those who wrought with her, and to 
complete a record, to whicli it was said the 
ladies of no other city furnislied a parallel. 

It is especially as thus seen that my 
memory restores our excellent friend, with 
wliom my association was, for the most part, 
]iubli(' or occasional. Yet I know that in the 
more private, and the domestic walks of life, 
she shone with no less beauty as a Christian 
wife, and mother, and friend. 

All who knew her must regret that in 
her ver}^ prime slie was removed from us, 



78 3IRS. STRANAITAX. 

leaving so wide a vacancy in the number of 
those to Avhoni it is a joy to care for and 
sustain whatever is valual)le and ))lessed. And 
all sympathize with that smaller circle, of 
which she was the center, now that so much 
of the light that cheered and charmed them, 
has ceased to shine. Yet none doubt that 
she is still active and still shines, in a nobler, 
better hfe. 

Yours, very sincerely, 

James Eells. 



Letter of Rev. Mark Hopkins, D.D., LL.D., 
President of Williams College. 

Williams College, Octobt-r 13, 1866. 

Rev. Dr. Spear : — 

My Dear Sir :— 
]\Iy acquaintance with Mrs. Stranahan was 
but for a few weeks, while she was here 



CORRESPOJSTDEjSTCE. 79 

last .suiiiiiier with Mr. Straiiahun, previuuri to 
the graduation of their son. 

The note to which you refer, was in ac- 
knowledgment of a copy of the History of 
the great '^' Brooklyn and Long Island Sani- 
tar}^ Fair," which she sent me on leaving for 
Manchester ; and as she seems to have valued 
it, I regret its loss. The i»urport of it was 
an expression of my appreciation of wliat had 
heen done, ami of those who had done it. 

My im])ression of what had been accom- 
plished by the people of Brooklyn and Long- 
Island was, ]»reviously, altogether inadequate ; 
and I was glad to know one who had been so 
efficient and honored a helper in that unpre- 
cedented Avork. It seemed to me that the 
representatives of such a work, and the lead- 
ers in it, were scarcely less deserving of pub- 
lic recognition and honor than our generals. 
I still think so, especially when they com- 
bine, as ^L's. Stranahan did so fnlly, such 
unusual quietness and delicacy with the com- 



80 MKS. STEANAHAN. 

prehension and energy demanded by her posi- 
tion in that work. I have met with -no one 
in whom that combination was more remark- 
able, and can only say, that so fiir as I had 
the pleasure of knowing Mrs. Stranahan, she 
seemed to me entirely and greatly worthy of 
esteem and honor. I rejoice that yon are 
preparing a Memorial of her. 

Respectfully yours, 

Mark Hopkins. 



Letter of Rev. Frederick A. Farley, D. D. 

To THE Rev. Dr. Spear : — 
My Dear Sir : — 
Your note of the 9th instant only finds me 
too glad to render my humble tribute to the 
memory of the late Mrs. Stranahan, though I 
may add nothing important to such a Memo- 



COKEESPONDENCE. 8 1 

rial as you, her Pastor and intimate })ersonal 
friend, can prepare. My own acquaintance 
with her was chiefly in official relations ; in 
which, however, it was impossible to be un- 
impressed by the fine powers she had at com- 
mand, and so efficiently exercised for })i<)iii()- 
ting the great and pressing- interests to which 
she was pledged. 

During the entire fourteen years of its 
existence, and liolding the position of one of 
the chief }»cnu;inent chanties of the City, Mrs. 
Stranahan, as one of its Managers, and, pi'c- 
vious to her death, for several years First 
Directress of the Brooklyn Society for the 
Relief of Respectable, Aged, Indigent Females, 
very largely contributed to the admirable 
a(hninistration of its atfairs, and its conse- 
quent usefulness and reputation. Among so 
many intelligent and devoted women who 
were associated witli her in that JJoard, it 
was a high, albeit a well-merited compliment, 
to be selected and continued from year to 



82 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

year, through a long term, in that prominent 
office, by their unanimous and voluntary suf- 
frages. The beneficiaries of this most excel- 
lent charity, many of whom from their edu- 
cation and previous social standing were fully 
capable of appreciating her, always regarded 
and spoke of her with marked attachment and 
respect. Her wise and careful supervision of 
the interests of the Institution ; the courtesy 
and dignity with which she presided over the 
deliberations of its Managers ; the sagacity 
with which she foresaw from time to time 
its needs, and the promptness and good judg- 
ment with which she set about providing for 
their supply ; the quick sympathy she always 
manifested for the aged and the infirm of her 
own sex there brought beneath her care ; and 
the large and generous Christian temper in 
which she recognized no division lines of sect 
or party in the apportionment of her regard, 
present to her late associates and her succes- 
sor in office, an examj^le worthy of all emula- 



COEEESPONDElSrCE. 83 

tion, and constitute a lastinfr claim on tlio 
gratitude of every lover and patron of this 
noble charity. During the long period of her 
service, in my frequent visits to the Institu- 
tion, and intimate knowledge of its concerns, 
I have had but one impression of the ability 
and fidelity of its late First Directress. 

In another sphere of action, where patriot- 
ism and l)enevolence united in a glorious and 
successful effort to relieve human suffering on 
the battle-field and in the camp, I have seen 
the same gifts and graces of this excellent 
woman more conspicuously called fortli and 
illustrated. From tlie first organization of the 
Woman's Relief Association of the Cit}^ of 
Brooklyn, in th(^ second year of our Great 
Civil War to the collapse of the Rebellion 
Mhich caused it, Mrs. Stranahan was the 
active, efticient, indefatigable, devoted Presi- 
dent of that Association ; an Association which 
w\as soon, by its marked " zeal, method, and 
persistency," three qualities warmly and justly 



84 MRS. STRANAHAK 

accredited to it by Dr. Bellows, destined to be 
claimed and officially recognized as the Brook- 
lyn Auxiliary to that beneficent United States 
Sanitary Commission of which he was the 
head. 

And really, my dear Sir, when I think of 
the amount of time, thought, anxious and 
pains-taking reflection, and active personal 
attention and eftort she gave to this great 
work ; when I recall how for nearly three 
years, with other weighty cares upon her, and 
amid failing health, she contrived to give her- 
self so faithfully and devotedly to carrying it 
on, I am lost in admiration. True, here, as in 
the other case I have cited, she had for coad- 
jutors a company of noble women, worthy 
representatives of our great and beautiful City. 
They represented every phase of our social 
and religious life ; they were distinguished by 
all the various traits which are the growth 
of education and habit ; they had on many 
subjects few views or associations in common. 



CORKESPOISrDE]!^CE. 85 

In one thing-, indeed, they were nnited — the 
desire to serve their country in her hour of 
peril, by ministering to the sufferings of her 
heroic defenders in the field. Acting on this 
thought — knowing no personal distinctions 
where this was the prevailing sentiment — and 
treating all with the like courtesy — she had 
yet the nice tact to call into requisition for 
special emergencies the precise talent which 
was wanted, and give it its right direction. 
Now and then — strange if it had not been 
so — there would be some questioning of her 
proposed measures, some demur to, or reluc- 
tance to accept, her suggestions ; but among 
men the case would be found a rare one, 
where a presiding officer carried so largely 
and uniformly, from first to last, the concur- 
rent judgment and api)roval of his compeers. 

I shall always call her to mind as among 
the remarkable women whom I have had the 
good fortune to know. With no especial covet- 
ing of notoriety, she was — as one might say — in 



8G MES. STEANAHAN. 

the course of nature, or rather — as I prefer 
to say — in the order of the Divine Provi- 
dence, called to occupy very responsible posi- 
tions bearing largely on the public weal ; 
and she was not found wanting. Nay, she 
was found eminently fit. All admitted it. 
And all find, now that she has been taken 
to her rest, that they owe her every grate- 
ful and honored remembrance. 
I am. Dear Sir, ever 

Yours, faithfully and respectfully, 

Frederick A. Farley. 

116 Pacific Street, October 15, 1866. 



(5) 

Letter of Rev. E. II. Canfield, D.D. 

Erooklyn. October 30, 1866. 

Rev. S. T. Sfear, D.I). :— 

Rev. and Dear Sir : — 
I was glad to learn from your note, that 



CORRESPONDENCE. 87 

you are preparing a Memorial of the late Mr.s. 
Stranahau. 

A eliaracter so marked, a life so useful, 
and an examitle in every way so worthy of 
imitation, ought to be held in eherished remem- 
brance by all who were }irivileged to know her, 
and lo be associated with her in works of faith 
and labors of love. No one could know her 
well, and fail to be impressed with her calliolic 
spiiit. lier genuine Christian IxMUMoIence, her 
untiring energy, and her practical wisdom. 
These traits were forcibly illustrated in her 
numerous laI)ors in l)ehalf of some of the pub- 
lic charities of our City ; but they were most 
strikingly exemplified in the remarkable execu- 
tive efficiency and rare administrative talent, 
which she displayed, during the late rebellion, 
as President of the Woman's Relief Association 
of Brooklyn. 

AVithout ostentation or forwardness, without 
exciting a sus})icion that she desired to be 
prominent as a leader, she was instrumental 



88 MES. STRANAHAJNT. 

far beyond any other single person, in so har- 
monizing and combining the active sympathies 
and efforts of the people and various Christian 
bodies of this City, that in proportion to its 
population, Brooklyn stands peerless, in the 
substantial relief it afforded to our soldiers, 
in the camp, in the field, on the march, and 
in the hospital. 

Her unusual talent in organizing and con- 
solidating the various agencies that were em- 
ployed, was fully matched by her skill in 
animating and directing them. Under the 
inspiration of her patriotic and Christian spirit, 
and under the guidance of her comprehensive 
judgment and great wisdom, the work went 
on, from year to year, not only with unflag- 
ging, but with constantly increasing interest 
and force, until the disbanding of our armies 
rendered it no longer needful. 

With these extraordinary powers were 
blended, in a rare and happy combination, 
those qualities and graces which made her a 



CORRESPONDENCE. 89 

powerful center of attraction in her family, 
and in the social circle. Few have been so 
gifted and so privileged with opportunity as 
she ; and very few have employed the talents 
committed to their trust so wisely and well. 
Very truly, your Friend 

and Brother in Christ, 

E. 11. Canfield. 



(6) 

Letter of Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. 

Lafayette Avexie CiiCRCir. December 5, 186G. 

Dear Dr. Spear : — 

I regret that I am not able to pay a more 
fittiuii; tribute to the memory of that most 
admirable Christian woman, the late Mrs. Stran- 
ahan. 

I saw her but seldom, and only in connec- 



90 MRS. STRATSTAHAJ^. 

tion with those hibors of philanthropy in which 
her warm heart delis-hted. Amons: the " hon- 
orable women not a few," who associated them- 
selves with that grandest agency of National 
charity — the United States Sanitary Commis- 
sion — the name of Mrs. Stranahan stands in 
well -deserved prominence. Her piety was 
Christ-like, for she " went about doing good." 

A true woman might well covet such a 
reputation as our friend won and wore, more 
than the fame of brilliant authorship. She 
did her part for her country's salvation as 
faithfully as the sterner, stronger arms that 
wielded a sword on the field of conflict. 

I recall now her pleasant, sunny counte- 
nance and her vivacious conversation — her 
untiring zeal and her sound practical sense ; 
and I only wish that her example would find 
more imitators in the circles of refinement and 
high social influence. Blessed be her sainted 
memory ! She resteth from her labors, and 
her works do follow her. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 91 

When you weave the chaplet which becomes 
such a noble woman's memory, let me add just 
this one simple leaf to the wreath. I wish it 
were more worthy. 

With sincere regard, I remain 

Yours in Christ Jesus, 

Theo. L. Cuyler. 



To Rev. S. T. Spear, D. D. 



Letter of Rev. R. S. Storrs, Jr., D. D. 

Brooklyn', Dactmhtr 24, 1866. 

Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

I am most happy, in response to your note, 
to give you my personal reminiscences of Mrs. 
Stranahan; and I only regret that the haste 
in which I am compelled to write, will make 



92 MES. STRAlSTAHAJSr. 

my tribute to her memory more brief and 
less satisfactory than I wish it might be. 

I had a slight, but a very pleasant ac- 
quaintance with her for several years, pre- 
viously to the organization of the " Woman's 
Relief Association," which, if I remember cor- 
rectly, was toward the close of 1862. But 
it was after that, and in connection especially 
with the operations of that Society, — of bles- 
sed memory ! — that I saw her most frequently, 
and received my strongest impressions of her 
rare character and personal force. 

Combined with entire modesty, dignity, and 
gentleness of manner, she had an extraordi- 
nary faculty of accomplishing whatever she 
undertook, by which no one who met her 
often, could ftiil to be inq^ressed. I was so 
engrossed, at that time and afterward, with 
private as well as with public concerns, that 
it seemed sometimes wholly out of my power 
to give to the work for which she occasionally 
solicited, my aid, the time and attention which 



CORRESPOKDElSrCE. 98 

its importance deserved, and which, under less 
exacting circumstances, I should gladly have 
offered. But I very soon learned, that the 
negative answer which it always is difficult to 
give to a lady, especially when she comes as 
the advocate of a beneficent charity, was sim- 
ply impossible when Mrs. Stranahan made the 
appeal. 

My Study in the church is not remarkably 
easy of access, as some of my friends have 
had occasion to know. But she found always 
a w^ay to reach me, if a meeting was approach- 
ing at which — in the absence perhaps of some 
one wdio had been expected — she w^ished me 
to speak ; or if a movement was under discus- 
sion in regard to which she wished any sug- 
gestions from me. And it was really impos- 
sible to say " No," in the face of so much 
quiet, intelligent, and persevering zeal as was 
manifest in her. The recollection of my re- 
fusal, if I ever had given it, would have caused 
me too much subsequent regret, to allow me 



94 MRS. STRANAIIAN. 

to turn to any thing else, — provided, of course, 
it had been at all within my power to render 
the service which she wished. I used to say, 
laughingly, after a while, in reply to the appli- 
cations which sometimes came indirectly from 
her, and were not brought by herself in per- 
son : " Yes, if Mrs. Stranahan wishes it, I shall 
be there, of course ! I always do what she 
desires. The notion of a clergyman's possess- 
ing free-will, when the claims of her Society 
are concerned, is a delusion and a snare !" 
And when it was proposed to me to under- 
take the Editorship of the little Fair-paper, 
"' TJie Drum Beat,'' issued in connection with 
the Sanitary Fair, in the early part of 1864, — 
an office of more labor than would be imagined 
by those not familiar with such a work, and 
bringing a plentiful crop of criticisms for its 
chiefest external reward, — I accepted it as 
much out of deference to her wishes as for 
any other assignable reason. 

Yet there was nothing whatever, as you 



COEEESPONDENCE. 95 

veiy well know, of unwomanly eagerness, posi- 
tiveness, or determination to carry her points, 
in tlie character or the manner of Mrs. Stran- 
ahan. Hers was the force of an honest, ear- 
nest, decided nature, pervaded and emphasized 
by strong convictions, and thoroughly conse- 
crated to the accomplishment of a great benev- 
olent enterprise. The impression which she 
made, was not so much ])y what she said, as 
by the influence which emanated from her 
thoughtful, practical, and conscientious spirit. 
And I can well understand that this influence 
must have been, to a remarkable degree, a 
moulding and an educating element in the cir- 
cles in which she habitually moved, and most 
of all in the inmost circle of her beloved and 
delightful home. 

Others will speak, no doubt, of the unusual 
dignity and efficiency with which Mrs. Strana- 
han presided in the business meetings, or in 
the occasional more public meetings of that 
Association, of which she was so long the hon- 



96 MRS. STRANAHAT^. 

ored President ; of the wisdom of her counsels ; 
of the courage and faith which in the darkest 
hours of the cause of the Society, or of that 
of the Republic, she maintained, and earnestly 
manifested ; and of the extent to which the 
success of the " Woman's Relief Association " 
— which constitutes one of the brightest fea- 
tures in our history as a City, and which be- 
came a source of inspiration to other associa- 
tions of a similar nature throughout the North 
— was due to her. I have preferred to give 
you, in this hurried note, simply my personal 
recollection of the lady for whom so many 
mourn, and whose apparently too early removal 
from the societies she here adorned, has left 
in them so sudden and so great a void. Thank 
God, the influence of such an one outlasts her 
presence, and the memory of her usefulness 
becomes to others an animating power. Flo- 
rence Nightingale inscribed on the headstone of 
the grave in Avhich was buried the daughter 
of a noble English family, who had gone to 



CORRESPONDENCE. 97 

Scutari as soldiers' nm'se : " She liatli done 
what she coidd." A Divine eidogy, fitly ap- 
plied ! It might as properly be placed over 
the grave of Mrs. Stranahan. It will probably 
be long before another so signal opportunity is 
presented to a lady, in any of the Churches, 
to fill an office of so general importance, and 
do a work of such National relations. When- 
ever it shall be, I know iKtthing better to be 
desired — for the Churches, as an evidence of 
their educating power, or for the City, as a 
]>roof of its best civilization — than that an- 
other shall come forward, as unostentatiously 
as she did, ca})able of filling the office as wise- 
ly and well, and of conducting the work to as 
complete and noble a success. 

I am, with great respect and regard, 
Truly yours, 

R. S. Storks, Jii. 

13 



98 MRS. STKAJSrAHAN. 



Letter of Rev. William J. Buddington, D. D. 

The Mediterranean, December 22, 1866. 

Rev. S. T. Spear, D. D. :— 
My Dear Sir : — 

Your letter of the 11th of October, 
reached me at Alexandria ; and I avail 
myself of the earliest opportunity to reply. 

You were right in saying, that probably 
I had already heard of the death of Mrs. 
Stranahan. The intelligence reached me just 
as I was beginning my travels in the Holy 
Land. One of our Missionaries at Sidon 
gave us in leaving a copy of the " New 
York Evangelist," which I began to read with 
avidity on horseback ; and wdiile riding along 
'" the coasts of Tyre and Sidon," my eyes 



CORRESPONDENCE. 99 

foil upon an obituary notice of INFrs. Strnn- 
«'ihan. My wife was riding by my side ; 
and it will be impossible to convey to you 
a sense of the surprise and grief we experi- 
enced. We bad recently called upon her 
in her own beautiful home in Brooklyn, 
apparently in the fullness of matronly health 
and strength; and never more than then I 
thought her the radiating center of useful- 
ness and happiness. But our grief was 
greater than our surprise. My wife wept 
for her as for a sister ; and I who knew 
her less intimately, but not the less admi- 
ringly, felt as I have seldom felt, how much 
is taken out of this world, and lost to 
humanity, when such a Christian, so large- 
minded, so equable and full in dcveloinneiit, 
is removed from the sphere of her laljors. 

That favorite charity of our City, " The 
Old Ladies' Home," has lost its main sup- 
port and ornament. Who would fill her 
place? who could do it? Her large discre- 



100 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

tion, her firmness combined with gentleness, 
her patience in details, her experience and 
general influence, were as much required, 
as they had been eminently useful and 
widelv recognized. 

But I had known Mrs. Stranahan chiefly, 
in common with the citizens of Brooklyn, as 
the head of the " Woman's Relief Associa- 
tion," and thus as the representative of the 
patriotism and Christian benevolence of the 
Ladies of Brooklyn, in that great crisis of 
our national history which drew forth nil 
that was best in our countrymen and coun- 
trywomen, and nowhere more than in our 
own City. Most naturally — inevitahlt/, I 
may say — she became the presiding officer 
of this most useful and efficient Association. 
Possessed naturally of a strong mind, clear 
in her perceptions, and logical in her courses 
of thought, she had, at the outset of the 
struggle, the most decided convictions of 
duty, and entered into the work of national 



CORRESPONDENCE. 101 

conservation with a heartiness and self-devo- 
tion, which, in a yonnger person, wonhl 
have been called enthusiasm, but which in 
her case was only the measure of an en- 
lightened Christianity and patriotism. She 
toiled untiringly, in season and out of sea- 
son ; when others flagged, she supplied the 
lack by giving more time, and redoubling 
her exertions; as the war wore wearily on, 
and disasters came, enfeebUng some, and 
confounding others, she rose to sublimer 
efforts, and supplied the ranks of the true 
and faithful who gathered round her, with 
the proper watchwords and fresh resources. 
I both admired and wondered at her in 
this regard ; and when success came, crown- 
ing the labors and sacrifices of our people, 
her soul was less fdled with mere exulta- 
tion than with sober thoughtfuluess as to 
what still remained to be done. 

There is beyond all this an inner his- 
tory, which I do not feel competent to 



102 MES. STKANAHAlSr. 

describe. There were trials, struggles, and 
triumphs, of which but few knew any thing ; 
there were jarring interests to be reconciled ; 
there were prejudices to be propitiated, and 
sinister influences to be detected and coun- 
teracted. For all this, pre-eminent wisdom 
was needed, as well as charity and patience ; 
and it is enough to say, that our deceased 
friend was equal to each emergency as it 
arose. 

It was also no small addition to her 
many graces, and qualifications for the emi- 
nent post she filled, that she was able to 
preside at j^ublic meetings with a dignity, 
propriety, and efliciency, not to be surpassed ; 
and when persons of the other sex were 
present, she did not vacate her office ; but, 
although it many times cost her an effort, 
she went forward in the execution of the 
trust committed to her. Possibly, to one 
who saw her only on these occasions, she 
might have seemed masculine in her virtues ; 



CORRESPONDENCE. 103 

but those who knew her, knew that it was 
simply a sense of duty which hardened her 
feminine softness into the manly strength 
which the occasion demanded. 

Let me say in conclusion, that I regard 
Mrs. Stranahan as one of the most extra- 
ordinary of that galaxy of women, whom 
the night of our country's sorrow disclosed, 
and whose light will shine forever in the 
l;nid they have done ihcir part — I dare not 
say, how (jro(d a part — to save. I am glnd 
that you are pi'eparing a Memorial of her 
life. It is eminently fitting, that sucli a 
life should be known and remembered, that, 
being dead, slie may yet spealc for the 
Saviour she loved and the country she 
honored. I have written hastily, and, as I 
know, most inadequately ; yet these are my 
honest impressions, and it is a pleasure to 
me to write them as you request. 
Very truly yours, 

Wm. J. BUDDINGTON. 



VII. 
EXTRACT 

FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF MRS. A. R. 
ST. JOHN, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF 
THE GRAHAM INSTITUTION, PRESENTED JAN- 
UARY 31, 1867. 



In recording the death of the Fh'st 
Directress, Mrs. J. S. T. Stranahan, we are 
recording also one of the most grievous 
events of the past year. Her connection 
Avith the Institution was from its earliest 
commencement, and her position as First 
Directress, was held for the past ten years. 
How faithfully and energetically she labored 



ij 



100 MRS. STKANAHAX. 

for its .'ulvancement and prosperity, the pub- 
lic at large will give their testimony; how 
devotedly and willingly she gave her time, 
her energy and strength to the comfort and 
well-being of its beneficiaries, her associates 
of the Board must fully attest. 

Her character was an unusual one, com- 
bining the elements of true womanhood with 
great mental strength and decision of pur- 
pose — forming a character of rare executive 
ability. This was more conspicuously called 
forth in her interest for her country and 
its rights in the past national troubles ; and 
her position at the head of the Woman's 
Relief Association, and its Sanitary Fair in 
aid of the great and holy cause, was filled 
with great ability, honor, and devotion. 

Her remarkable '' gift of speech " in ad- 
dressing and holding the attention of an 
audience, as well as her dignity and quietude 
of address, gained a lasting memory in the 
hearts of her hearers, and an honorable niche 



EXTRACT. 1()7 

in the Temple of Fame, as one of the lead- 
ing women of this country at a time when 
every woman as well as man was called 
upon for its support. Her inner life was 
one of deep thought — reflective, rather than 
communicative — which gave to her manner, 
at times, a seeming coldness or reserve which 
w^as not her ch;iracteristic in the more sacred 
circle of family or friendship. 

All philanthropic objects met with her 
ready sympathy and earnest co-operation, and 
she was not called upon in vain to sustain 
them. 

Her physical health, never strong, was 
very much affected by her great exertions 
at the Sanitary Fair, and gradually yielded 
to the fell destroyer of all human hopes 
and alfections. 

She more recently tried change of scene 
and air, but without much benefit, and finally 
sought the beautiful valley of Manchester, 
in the mountainous region of Vermont, which 



108 MRS. STRANAHAN. 

proved to be her last resting-place on earth. 
Truly, at the foot of Mount Equinox, with 
its multitude of lesser peaks pointing heaven- 
ward, as if in welcome of her coming, was 
a fitting place for this truly noble woman 
to yield up her spirit to the power that 
gave it. 

Respectfully submitted, 

A. R. St. John, 

Correspondiiifj Secretary, 

January 31, 1867. 



VIII. 

THE TIIIKD AND FINAL REPORT OF THE WOMAN'S 
RELIEF ASSOCIATION OF BROOKLYN AND LONG 
ISLAND. 



The necessity for the Woman's Relief 
Association terminated with the suppression 
of the rebellion and the consequent close of 
the war. At the final meeting of the Asso- 
ciation, Mrs. Stranahan presented her last 
Report. From this Report the compiler has 
selected the following extracts, as specially 
deserving a place in this Memorial Volume : — 

To THE LoYAi, Women of Bkooklyx and Long Inland: 

Another year of service in the National cause has broiiglit 
us to the close of the war. The Rebellion is utterly crushed, 



110 MRS. STRANAIIAN. 

the Jinnies are (lisbaiidiiig, and Peace dwells once more in our 
land. Our -work is ended therefore: the pi'ecious labor of love, 
which during long months and years of war has gone on so 
cheerfully — part of the great service of patriotic women far and 
near, of women grown more devoted and more self-sacrificing 
with every fresh appeal of sick and wounded soldiers, never 
doubting, always constant. 

So suddenly has the long conflict ended, so abruptly has the 
need of our service ceased, that our Rei)ort concerns even now 
a thing of the past. A month ago supplies were pouring in 
upon us from every side, for the sick, the wounded, the conva- 
lescent — every thing that love could suggest, or skilful hands 
prepare : now our Depot has vanished, .and a busy shop is in its 
place; the soldiers are marcliing home again through ourstreets, 
and the great Sanitary Commission itself is making ready its 
glorious Report to the American people. 

We recall the spring of 1S64, and the situation of our armies 
then, to realize once more how vast were the demands upon us 
only a year .ago. Our own records show how constantly' tliose 
demands were met, and liow, through the wise husbanding of 
our resources, and the undiminished interest of our jjcople, we 
were able to accomplish more than ever before, and tins at the 
critical moment when other streams of supply had run low. 
Whatever may be said of the wr)rk of other communities in this 
great cause, we are confident in this, that nowhere have more 
enduring devotion and enthusiasm been shown to the very last. 
The Commission has never applied to us for supplies that we 
could not speedily furnish, and we have never appealed to the 
churches or the people in vain. Our requisitions have covered 
a wide range, and no provision has been accounted too careful 
or too comprehensive. 



IIEPORT. I 1 1 

Upwards of 55,000 articles Lave boon received and disposed 
of since the date of our last rejiort, of an airgrcijatc value ex- 
ceeding $100,000, the ])roi)er classification and pa('kinii:of which 
has been a work of gi'cnt magnitude. 

The aggregate of our efforts, including the results of our 
Great Fair, represents a money-value of not less tiian half a 
million of dollars — a vast sum, viewed in the light of our first 
iiumblc expectations, but, in a truer light, oidy a fitting ex])res- 
sioii of our mingled jjatriotism and philanthropy. 

Tt only remains to us now, dear friends, to say a parting 
word, the tliought of which alone fills our hearts with an un- 
speakable sadness. F(jr nearly three years we have been united 
in the sweetest fellowship, which henceforth may only dwell in 
memory. How much we owe to your kindness we cannot 
express. Our work has been j)ossible only through your con- 
stant sympathy, your unwavering confidence in us, your patience 
with our failings, your unfailing readiness to serve in the great 
cause. We tharik you, whether present or absent, from our 
inmost hearts. The work has been yours — not ours; you have 
been the great givers — and we but the almoners of your love. 
And with these words of ours, the last that may ever reach you. 
we woidd tell you how the blessing of the good Father has gone 
with your every gift, even the humblest; so tb.at nothing has 
failed to serve a greater good than your fond hearts ever planned. 
Could you know the precious service of even the poor wrap- 
pings of your treasures — the coarse paper, the rough boxes, the 
shavings, the bran — as we could tell it to you. your satisfaction 
would ask no more. Thousands of brave men sleep to-day in 
patriot graves whose closing hours of life your goodness made 
serene and happy with thoughts of mother, sister, wife, in dis- 



/ 



1 1 '1 MRS. STRANAHAN. 



tant homes. Thousands more are in your midst to-day, safely 
returned from the war, wliose lives were saved, through your 
far-reaohing care, on battle fields, in army hospitals, and dread- 
ful prisons. 

Your labor has not been in vain: you too have helped to 
save your country, and make her free forever. This is your 
true reward — better than words of ours can utter. 

And so we take our parting, kind friends, and say our last 
farewell. May the blessings of the great multitude of those 
that were ready to perish return to your own hearts and homes, 
to dwell there evermore, and bring you peace. 

Mns. J. S. T. Sthaxaiian, 

President. 
Brooklyn. Awjust \, 18G5. 



a 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




ill 111 

014 223 676 A 












